and the twin pillars, the foundation of what makes the senate a unique body is unlimited debate and unfeterred amendment. in the house of representatives, debate is limited, often debates are not permitted at all. in the senate the minority gets to speak, the minority gets to offer its amendments. and these -- >> the filibuster you're saying is the guarantor of that? >> absolutely. absolutely. it's that super majority requirement to overcome a filibuster that requires the majority in the senate to deal with the minority each and every day. >> it's a question of debate. what the filibuster means is that in the senate there's no general limitation of debate. it's that one aspect of senate procedure which is deep in the dna of senate procedure. questions are debatable. if questions are debatable, there is no general majority compulsion and the minority has if not rights, certainly privileges and historically for more than 200 years the minority has utilized those privileges in something of an inherent implicit contract with the majority. the majority says you may do this and minority has gone abo